Ascension
by T0PD0G
Summary: Gabby Torres is only 11 when taken from her family by SHIELD. After 3 years of training her powers with SHIELD, she is brought to Manhattan to deal with an alien invasion, and soon becomes a member of the Avengers. Follow her as she deals with Hydra, growing up a mutant, and living with the Avengers. TERRIBLE at summaries, sorry, first story! Eventually PeterxOC, probably.
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys! This is my first time publishing a piece that I've written and I would appreciate any criticism you have to give me! My OC will NOT be a Mary Sue. She has telepathy and telekinesis, but nothing too big. I am also proud to say that she is a proud Latina! Disclaimers are posted on my account page.

This story follows my OC Gabby Torres in the MCU. It will follow the storylines already set up in the movies, but there will be some of my own flare in them due to adding a new character. The first 3 chapters will follow the story of The Avengers (2012), but I will NOT be writing my OC into every single Marvel movie as it's unrealistic and too much. She will definitely be cameo-ing in some, though, as well as definitely appearing in Age of Ultron (for a few chapters). Let me know which movies you would like to see her in!

I will also be writing her with the crew outside the movies too . I have a lot of things planned for this character and I hope you enjoy it! There will be fluff, there will be tears, there will be laughter. The ending of this chapter was a little darker than originally planned but it will pick up! I'll be posting chapter 2 tomorrow and, if I get enough reviews, chapter 3 will be up tomorrow too! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

Manhattan, 2012

This was insane.

Aliens? Yeah, that's crazy. Giant wormhole? A little odd. But this?

"GT ETA two minutes," spoke the pilot into her headpiece.

They referred to her as GT, the 'they' being SHIELD. She's been a secret asset to SHIELD for about three years now, possessing a set of skills no one else on the planet possessed.

At least, that they know of.

"We're sending her into that?" asked the old male copilot. He shook his head. "Now _that_ is a clusterfuck."

Gabriella Torres wanted to thank that man for his kind words.

The helicopter neared the city fast with no intention for stealth, intent on getting their weapon as close as they can as fast as they can. This was it. If they lost the battle here, then they lost the war. They lost everything.

Gabby thought her headset was too tight and wanted to take it off. She guided her finger along the collar of her shirt, suddenly overcome with the sensation of being choked. Her leg bounced erratically. She took deep breaths and closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down. She didn't want to endanger the lives of the people on board the helicopter.

Calm would not find her, as it seems, and her eyes shot open as the helicopter jerked to the right. She realized the pilots were shouting into the headset and have been for a few seconds, screaming about incoming _somethings_ and that they couldn't take her any farther without taking heavy damage. They already attracted enough attention.

Gabby took this as her cue and stood up, taking her headset off and looked out the helicopter doors, steeling herself against the side. Hundreds of little objects were zooming through the city, around all the tall buildings and sometimes even through. Lights shot from them, aimed at structures that would erupt in fire the second they were hit. The sky was almost darkened by the hovercrafts, if that's what they were. All of this was under the glaring eye of the wormhole in the sky.

Yeah, clusterfuck was a word for it.

Gabby turned to look at the copilot who was waving at her to jump off furiously, mouthing the word 'go'. Maybe he was shouting it, but she couldn't hear him even though he was only two feet away. Nodding and giving him the thumbs up, she jumped out of the helicopter.

And immediately regretted it.

The feeling of falling thousands of feet at high speeds did not agree with her stomach, which leapt to her throat as she swallowed. Her brain simultaneously felt like shutting down while screaming at her to do something, anything, cause she was falling, falling, with no end.

Gritting her teeth, thanking God they gave her goggles because she wouldn't have thought of that herself, she aimed her descent at a little opening on a highway where there seemed to be a lot of explosions. Seemed like a good place to land.

As she neared her target, she aimed her hands out, palms down, and pushed to slow her descent. About 50 feet above the ground she jutted her legs out and pushed harder towards the ground, bending her knees as she landed.

Safe.

She looked down at her hands, then up at the sky. The helicopter was already turned around and heading away from Manhattan, losing more of the little bugs that encircled it each second.

She just did that!

Gabby smiled to herself, proud. She never used her powers for something like that before and she nailed her first attempt.

There was some whispering in her ear, and as she paid attention it got louder. "GT, have you landed? Are you in?" it demanded repeatedly.

"Yes," she whispered, then tried again louder.

"Your mission is to get civilians to safety. Do _not_ engage the aliens unless absolutely necessary, and only to throw them off. Do you understand?"

"I understood the first time you told me before I boarded the helicopter, and I still understand now," she replied, the corner of her mouth turning up. "Nothing's changed."

No response from the other end. She laughed to herself, shaking her head. The personnel at SHIELD are all so serious, so into their jobs, turning into robots the second they clocked in at work.

The screams brought her back to reality and wiped the smile off her face. Whipping around, she noticed a group of civilians running from the photon blasts- or whatever- from the alien hovercraft chasing them. Her eyes searched for the driver, an ugly looking creature- or was that a mask? Extending her arms out, she sent a telekinetic blast to the alien's head, sending it falling backward. With her right hand she 'grasped' the front of the craft and shot it to the right, crashing into a building. The civilians rushed past her, completely ignoring her as they ran.

 _You're welcome,_ she thought to herself.

Gabby ran into the city, sticking to the highway to give her a better vantage point on the surrounding streets. She kept as vigilant as possible, checking even the building's windows in case anyone was still inside.

As time went on she became more confident in her ability to handle her powers, and to protect. Her voice went hoarse as she directed any survivors she found to the outskirts of the city, and her arms were getting a little sore from their constant use. Not to mention her brain, which throbbed painfully each time she used her powers after the first 20 minutes.

Her mind drifted as sending crafts flying into buildings became muscle memory. The Avengers is what they were calling them, the SHIELD team that landed in Manhattan before her. Gabby didn't know who exactly were on the team, only knowing of Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk. She wasn't directly told this, she just overheard it from others at SHIELD as she was being prepped.

Gabby wondered if she'd meet them. She most hoped to meet Captain America. She herself was Mexican, so the giddy wasn't from national pride. It was the kind of giddy that came from meeting a celebrity, or seeing a genuine artifact in person, something only a few people ever got to do in life. She didn't feel this giddy for Iron Man, Tony Stark, whom she found narcissistic and snippy. But the person, or thing, she definitely did _not_ want to meet was the Hulk.

She saw the footage, and even with her abilities she knew she wouldn't even last a minute with him. It.

Eventually, she made her way to a bus with people trapped on it. From the distance she saw two people working on it; a man with a bow and quiver strapped to his back pulling them out through a window, and a woman in a skintight black suit and bright red hair shooting at alien foot soldiers. Gabby wanted to help even though she was sure they had this under control, and that they were from SHIELD, but she couldn't move her feet. She stood in place 25 feet away, staring in awe. They worked well as a team, and she wondered if that's what they were.

She flinched when she noticed the man's eyes were on her, staring back as he shot an arrow into the head of an alien to his right. They never told her if she could intermingle with others at SHIELD, but considering she was kept a secret she decided that it wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, she turned tail and ran the street closest to her, knowing they wouldn't follow her as it was their priority to contain this.

It was only about another 20 minutes later, about 40 minutes since she first landed, that the wormhole closed. She didn't know how or why, but all of the hovercrafts crashed on their own, and all of the foot soldiers fell without getting up. She even kicked one a little just to make sure it wouldn't move.

Something crackled in her ear, just static for a few seconds until speech came through. "GT," said the voice from earlier. Gabby wondered if it was possible for someone to sound like they're smiling, because that's what she thought when she heard him talk. "GT, come in."

What was she supposed to say? 'In'? 'Yes'? What do secret agent people say in return to that? "Hi," she said, and cringed. "Saw the hole close, we done here?" she added, trying to redeem herself and sound chill.

"The threat is contained, and thousands more civilians were evacuated. Evac ETA 10 minutes about a mile from your position straight ahead. Go there directly, your work is done. Good job today, soldier."

Soldier? Is that what she was? She got the feeling the man she spoke to didn't know exactly who he was speaking to.

Suddenly, she became overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by her senses, her memories, her situation. She just played a part on fighting off an alien invasion. Earlier, she failed to get past the awesomeness of that sentence alone and failed to realize the world almost just ended. How could she have glossed that over? Was it due to her nerves, or was that idiocy?

She looked down at her hands and noticed they were slightly pink, even though she was darker skinned, and they were shaking. Her eyes were sore, attached to a brain that was screaming in pain. If she really thought about it, she'd notice how sore her entire body was.

The right side of her body was warmed by a car on fire- should she back away from that? Would it blow?- and the car to her left was blaring it's siren, a loud, constant sound falling to her deaf ears. Her mouth was dry and she licked her lips, tasting some blood.

Willing her legs to move, she slowly walked to the extraction point, not once looking behind her. Her legs were numb, moving on their own, and she trusted them to take over as she escaped into her mind, reliving what just happened.

She ended up being almost exactly two minutes late, and they impatiently grabbed her and shoved her into the helicopter. The copilot handed her a headset but put it on her when he was certain that she wouldn't take it from him, then joined his pilot up front.

She sat in her seat but couldn't feel her butt. She flew away from the city but remained there, facing the enemy and rushing civilians to safety. Faces flashed before her, terrified faces, glancing at her with a tear rolling down their cheek as they rushed to get behind her, behind the girl who moved things with her mind, to safety.

She thought of all the people she saved- how many? Too many to count- and those she didn't. She tried not to think of those, so she didn't. She didn't think of the red dust clouds that appeared after that old man was shot. She didn't think of the cries for help that were immediately silenced. She didn't think of that man that was under that car that she didn't see why was he under that car anyway what possible protection could that provide him why didn't he-

She was being shaken by a gentle hand on her shoulder. Gabby looked up into the face of the pilot, a smiling young woman who Gabby found to actually be quite pretty really, and to have nice cheekbones when she smiled.

"Good job today, kid," the pretty lady said. "You did great! We're all very proud of you."

Just like that, she was hustled out of the helicopter and into the building she called home now.

Good job today, kid.

A woman underneath a pile of rubble, trapped, half her body crushed, reaching out to Gabby with blood pouring out her mouth.

You did great!

Nothing she could do. Gabby kept walking.

We're all very proud of you.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again! Thanks for coming to the second chapter of my story! Gabby's time in The Avengers (2012) will be limited to only 3 chapters, then I will move on. It will be a little bit of outside-the-movies time followed by her in the movies. I set up a poll on my account as to which movies you want to see her in so go vote now!

I hope you like Gabby so far, and soon you will know a whole lot more about her! I hope you like the story too! Enjoy

Chapter 2

Washington, D.C. 2012

There was a knock at her door.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Come with me," said the voice.

Gabby sat up off her bed, slipped her white standard-issued sneakers on and opened the door.

A woman greeted her from behind it. She didn't smile. "Let's go."

Gabby followed this woman through multiple hallways and to an elevator, going up. Gabby didn't follow her because she trusted her- even though the woman was wearing standard SHIELD garb- she followed her because she did what she was told. She learned that lesson.

They got out at the highest level of the building and walked through a short hallway until they reached a door. "They're waiting inside for you," said the woman before walking away.

Gabby stared at the door as her heart rate increased. As she reached her hand out the grab the knob and turned it, Gabby realized that she didn't see a single person in the building other than the woman she followed on her way up here. In the middle of the day. On a Tuesday. In a government building.

She only hesitated for a second before she stepped in.

What she saw surprised her.

She knew this was Director Nick Fury's office, remembered it from the numerous times she's been here. But it was never as crowded as it is now.

Inside were 6 people dressed in casual clothes: the Director himself, scowling, standing behind his desk; the man with the bow from yesterday; the woman with the bright red hair next to that man; Captain America; Tony Stark, Iron Man; and Bruce Banner, the man who turned into the Hulk.

Gabby flinched.

Captain America, Steve Rogers, looked her up and down, scowling. Gabby felt uncomfortable in her tight white Under Armour shirt and gray sweats, thinking he was judging her, before the Captain turned to Nick Fury. "You have to be kidding me. That's a kid!"

"A very special kid who kicked a lot of ass yesterday," responded Fury, the corner of his mouth turned up.

Gabby didn't get it, what was so funny?

Tony Stark looked at her with blank eyes, not giving off anything in body language, and Gabby found herself angry that she couldn't figure out what he was thinking with a glance. Bruce Banner unfolded his arms and placed them in his pockets, looking at the ground and sighing. The man with the bow pursed his lips, and the red-haired woman had a far-away look to her.

Gabby felt uncomfortable, standing in the room with so many adults, so many personalities, so many people she didn't know.

"You're keeping a kid here and, what, training her to be your soldier?" the Captain continued. "What exactly are you trying to do here?"

"We're trying to keep her safe, for one," Nick Fury said. "Second, why…"

Gabby blanked out on their speech again to analyze their body language once more, which often say more than words do.

Steve Rogers, was he defending her? He pointed a finger at Fury- was he allowed to do that?- and a vein popped in his neck as he was practically shouting over Fury, who was also shouting over him, his eyebrows furrowed.

Tony Stark now squinted his eyes at her, his arms crossed as he angled his body more towards Rogers and Fury, chipping in here and there. Fury said something and Stark held out his arms in a placating way, turning fully towards him now to say something in retort.

Bruce Banner scratched the back of his head and mumbled something, to which Fury pointed to him and said, "Exactly. See, he gets it."

The man with the bow chuckled. "You really think that's what this is all about?" He was leaning on one leg, his arms hanging easily by his sides and he occasionally picked them up to talk.

The one with the red hair was looking right into Gabby's eyes, which made her feel uncomfortable at first before she returned the stare. She found nothing in those eyes, no hint of emotion.

That woman must think no one can know what she thinks besides her, Gabby thought. I could so easily pick through that mind and-

"Gabby?"

Gabby perked up. How many times had he called her name? They were all staring at her now. "What?"

"Come here," said Nick Fury.

Gabby walked slowly over to him, in front of his desk but off to the side so as to not stand with the others. She tried not to look scared or worried. She wondered how she was doing.

"We found her in a police station in Texas, cornered by those scared by what she could do," Fury explained. "She wouldn't have seen trial. You know how Texans can be. We saved her, took her and her family over to D.C. We help her use her powers-"

"For your own benefit," Rogers finished.

"This is all situational, Rogers. She could either sit in her house, play around with powers she doesn't understand and accidentally get a lot of people killed, or learn how to control them with us. We deployed her to Manhattan only because I thought the world was ending, _which it was,_ but we kept her away from the actual fight and had her extracting civilians _only._ She helped save over two hundred lives yesterday, and I've no doubt many of them would be dead today if it wasn't for her."

That brought a silence to the room, but Gabby's mind was a blur. Most of what Fury was saying wasn't even true. She didn't convey this to the room.

"Three years she's been with us now, Rogers. Three. She has enough control over her powers that we felt confident enough sending her into the field."

"She's not even enlisting age," Rogers said. "Are you making these decisions, or are her parents?"

Gabby cringed. He made it plural.

"Her mother gave us the go-ahead."

"With a gun to her head?" the man with the bow asked. "I can't imagine any parent in their right mind that would enroll their kid in SHIELD Academy like that." Gabby cringed again.

"Well, they did. Without a gun to their head. What kind of person do you think I am? I'm on _your_ side here, people."

"Are you?" asked a voice in the back of the room, near the door.

Everyone turned to the newcomer. It was an old man in a blue and white suit with graying blonde hair and a lot of wrinkles. "Fury," he said. "I see you've ignored my suggestion to _not_ introduce her. They don't need her."

"She has proven herself on numerous occasions that she has what it takes," Fury said, leaning back a little, "Pierce."

"She's a murderer, Nick." Pierce enunciated 'murderer', like he wanted to make sure everyone heard.

Everyone in the room, sans Fury and Pierce, turned to look at her after that accusation. Pierce refused to look into her eyes, as he always did, like he never wanted to acknowledge her existence. Gabby herself stared in Pierce's eyes, wanting him to look at her, trying to force him to.

"Why don't you tell them the truth, Nick?" Pierce continued. "Instead of that bull lie you told. Tell them how we came to notice her, really."

Gabby didn't know what to feel. Scared? Nervous? Angry? Lonely? She looked down at the ground, then turned her body to face Fury, looked at his face for a sign of what he might do next.

Fury looked down at her and she could see the wheels turning in his head. Sighing, he ran his hand over his face and faced the team, who was looking back at him.

There was a pause before he spoke, a pause that felt like minutes to Gabby who knew what he was about to say. She didn't want to be reminded. She didn't want people to know.

She didn't want any of this.

"Three years ago in Dallas, a call came in. Typical crime scene, a man died of blunt force injuries. Except he was thrown through a brick wall, and the only people in the room with him when it happened where his petite wife and two children, aged 6 and 11. The wife claimed her daughter threw him, a grown man, through that wall. Suddenly, this was no typical crime scene," Fury explained.

"She threw her father through a wall," Pierce said, dumbing it down. "With her mind. I wanted-"

"I was protecting my family," Gabby said, finding her voice after all this time. She was rather sensitive about this topic and was quick to anger when people ignored that fact. "You're conveniently ignoring the fact he was going to murder us."

Pierce scoffed. "Says you."

"He had a knife. It was in his head."

"What does that mean, 'it was in his head'?" asked Rogers. He was staring at her now, eyebrows furrowed but with soft eyes. He looked like he believed her.

"I saw into his mind," Gabby explained. "I'm also telepathic. And he _was,"_ Gabby continued, turning to glare at Pierce, "going to murder us, starting with my mom. Had a long history with violence, my father, both in Mexico and the United States."

"'It was in his head' doesn't hold in court, Fury, and doesn't excuse her from going on trial," Pierce complained.

"I never intended to kill him," Gabby said.

The room was silent for a moment before Fury placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "That's why she's with us, to avoid any more accidents."

"And now you want her to be an Avenger?" asked Pierce.

Gabby froze. That's what they wanted? That's why she was here? They wanted her to go on missions with them, save the world with them? Wanted her to work with Captain America and Iron Man and the Hulk and Thor and those other two?

When Gabby came to again Pierce was walking out of the room angrily and Nick was addressing the team in front of him. Steve Rogers looked a little more relaxed, which Gabby found strange considering he just found out that she was a murderer. One hand was in his pocket, the other hanging by his side as he listened to Fury speak. Bruce Banner was looking at his teammates, wondering what they were thinking about all of this. Tony Stark leaned back a little, arms crossed, and he looked at Fury with an expression Gabby couldn't quite place, which made her even more annoyed with him. The man with the bow was whispering something in the red head's ear and a hand on her back, and the red head's face grew more relaxed as he spoke.

"Gabby."

She looked up at Director Nick Fury, the only person she trusted in this room, the only one that ever had her back and was nice to her, even when dealing with her crap.

"Welcome to the team."


	3. Chapter 3

The story is starting to pick up a little more now, I just have to get past introducing Gabby to all of the Avengers and to the readers before things will really start. This chapter will mark the end of introductions, though. Enjoy! And remember to vote on the poll on my account about which movies you want to see Gabby appear in. The poll will end probably near the end of December, depends on the traffic I receive. Also, please leave a review with any criticism you have- I both love and need criticism.

Chapter 3

Washington, D.C. 2012

She was sent back to her room after she was assigned to the team while they discussed a few things, such as the new team member, possible assignments, possible relocation or a home base, and the fallout of Manhattan. She stayed in her room for a little over a half an hour before there was another knock at her door.

When she opened it, she was greeted by the faces of her new team members, Stark, Rogers, and Banner.

"Hungry?" asked Stark.

They all piled into one of Stark's fancy cars with her and Banner shoved in the back. Tony spoke of a nice restaurant he knew in D.C. before he looked at her in the rearview mirror.

"So, kid," he said. "You like it there?"

"No," she answered immediately, knowing he spoke of her new 'home'. "Better than jail, though."

"You didn't know what you were doing," explained Rogers.

"I did, though." Silence. "Didn't know how strong I was. But I wanted to hurt him."

"I don't understand," began Banner, "how do you have those powers?"

"I wasn't infected by gamma radiation, if that's what you mean. It's…my DNA, they said."

"That's some mutation, if I'm to believe that," snorted Stark. "As if there's a gene to give you the ability to look into another's mind- what's the extent of your powers, by the way? Just how powerful are you? Can you tell me what I'm thinking of now?"

"You're thinking of Loki's scepter." Tony made an approving sound. "Which brings me to, what exactly was that yesterday?"

Tony shifted in his seat as if uncomfortable as Rogers explained. Apparently there are 9 'realms', which are different than dimensions, and from one realm called Asgard there are two brothers, Thor and Loki. Loki tried to get revenge on his brother Thor, who's an Avenger too, by taking over the Earth with an alien army called the Chitauri. They came from a wormhole in the sky, which Stark closed by sending a nuke through it. Apparently, he barely made it back.

The entire time Banner was no so subtly staring at her with a quizzical look. "What?" asked Gabby. She hated when people looked at her funny.

Banner seemed to shake his head to jolt him back to his senses before he said, "Have you had these…abilities all your life?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Then, "Explain that, Mr. Smart," she directed at Stark.

"You're an alien," he retorted, no pause.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it."

They pulled into a parking lot of a nice looking restaurant when Rogers told Stark to act nice.

"I _am_ acting nice," he said back, turning his chin up a little as they got out of the car. "In fact I'm so nice that I'm paying for everyone's meal, how's that for nice?"

Steve grumbled in response before walking over to Gabby and put a hand on her back, walking her to the restaurant. "We thought you wanted to get out a little, and we wanted to treat you for helping out yesterday," he explained.

Gabby was struck by how big the man was, something she didn't notice before as she only saw him from a distance. But now, standing next to him? Biceps as big as her head, which didn't even reach his shoulders. She almost giggled to herself thinking how small he used to be before his injection, yet wondered how he got used to his new body parameters as fast as he did. She wondered if there was a serum to make her look like a model, especially now, standing next to these fine dressed gentlemen. Stark was wearing a suit, of course, but Rogers and Banner wore business casual.

They all four walked into the restaurant and the waiter did a double take when he saw just who was walking in. The waiter quickly seated them and went to go tell the boss who just walked in. Again, Banner sat next to Gabby and her heart sank when she realized why.

If they wanted to play nice with her, they'd seat the friendly-faced, patriotic Captain America next to her. No, they were sending her a message by placing the damn _Hulk_ next to her, weren't they? To warn her not to try anything?

Gabby rescinded, thinking that was stupid. If she did do anything, they wouldn't want Banner to Hulk out in the middle of a restaurant. Immediately, she felt stupid. Maybe they placed Banner next to her, the live wire, to show their trust in her? Yeah, that must be it.

"So, Gabby," Stark began, "have to ask: why'd you do it?"

Gabby blinked. "Why'd I do what?"

"Tony-" Rogers warned, but was cut off. He knew what was coming.

"Why'd you kill him?"

Gabby was taken off guard for a moment, but quickly the rage returned. The same rage that rises whenever someone asked her a dumb question like that. 'Why'd you kill him, Gabby?' As if she had another choice, as if they were _there,_ as if they could've done better.

Gritting her teeth, she answered, "I didn't mean to. I said that. I didn't know how strong I was. I surprised myself."

"Yeah, but, you said you saw into his mind, right? That you're telepathic too? So why didn't you just, I don't know, mind control him not to hurt you guys?"

"He wasn't going to hurt us," she hissed, unable to stop herself. _"He was going to kill us._ And at the time, I couldn't 'mind control' anyone, smartass, I could only look into people's minds."

She wished she could take back what she said, maybe word it nicer, but another part of her brain was saying that he deserved it, that they all did. They were all staring at her now, Banner with sympathy, Rogers with suppressed rage, Stark with a little shock at being spoken to like that. Serves him right.

Gabby stood up, muttering an 'excuse me' as she made her way to the bathroom. Looking back at the table before she entered she saw Rogers talking angrily to Tony, who sheepishly tried to defend himself, and Banner just shook his head.

Gabby made her way to the restaurant mirrors, looking at herself with disgust and anger. She still had on that simple white tee that clung to her body and those gray sweatpants, her white sneakers scuffed from use. They only allowed her to wear what they gave her, another way of expressing their ownership of her. She stared at her bland, make-up-less face and sighed. Her long, curly dark brown hair was in a ponytail, only a few strands loose, and it looked black in this lighting. There were slight bags under her brown eyes, and her olive skin looked white from her intensive activity yesterday, something she was still recovering from.

Gabby splashed some water on her face and slapped it some to look better, fresher as she didn't want to appear weak in front of them, and walked back out to the table, ignoring the looks she got.

Things were silent for a moment as they looked at the menus but didn't read them before Banner asked, "So you _can't_ mind control people?"

"No, Banner," Gabby said, a little too quickly, still salty. She knew they weren't treating her to food to welcome her, or thank her, or to get her out of the building. They were interrogating her, masked with lies. "I can't tell you not to Hulk out, sorry." There was a pause as he blinked at her, a little embarrassed she found out what he was thinking. "But I can a little, yes."

"You couldn't before but now you can?" asked Rogers, not understanding.

"My powers work like a muscle," she explained. "The more I work them out the better I am at it, and the more powerful I become."

The waiter came by with the manager, who kissed ass to Stark and Rogers, completely ignoring Gabby and Banner. The waiter wrote down their orders and took off to rush them their food.

"What else can you do?" asked Tony. "Besides sass us out."

"I can crush your expensive car with my mind."

Stark and Gabby glared at each other before both breaking out into laughter.

"Glad you're on our side, then," he said through his laughter.

"You said you didn't like it there?" asked Rogers. "How do you mean?"

"It's not home."

"They don't let you see your family?" He squinted his eyes, his face scrunched up.

"No, I see them still. The ones I didn't put through a wall. Just not every day, of course."

"You said they train you," Banner began. "How?"

"They don't _really_ train me, but they kind of tell me what to work on and I try. They can't train me to do something they don't know how to do themselves. And teaching myself all this? It's hard."

They nodded. This made sense to them, but it never really could. They could never know how it feels to have this other part of you that no one else has. To train yourself to use these powers, to summon them and use them how you want. It's more than 'hard'- it's damn near impossible. It's like telling a novice painter to create a new colour.

Gabby was struck with a sudden realization that she _wanted_ them to know how it felt. She wanted them to understand her struggles. She never received any help at home, or any support, and all the ever received from SHIELD was 'do better', 'try harder', 'you can do it'. With them, with these new faces, her new teammates, she felt she had a better chance explaining to them how the fish climbed the tree, slowly but surely. She wanted to vent, but she also wanted to explain how beautiful yet frustrating an experience like hers was.

So she told them everything. She told them about her abusive father, her mother that couldn't really care less, and her wonderful younger brother, Marcus, had tried to help her. She discovered her powers one day when they were out playing in the woods in Texas and her brother almost got bit by a snake but Gabby had sent it flying away from where it couldn't hurt him. Every day after school they would go into the woods and train her to use her telekinesis.

Telepathy came later, she explained, during one horrible day in school where she could hear everyone's thoughts, and cried until she passed out. They trained with that, too, mostly with her turning it on and off and telling Marcus what he was thinking.

They kept it a secret, even from their parents, until one day they came home from practicing in the woods and their father had backed their mother into the fridge, holding a knife in front of her face.

Bad thoughts scream at her, she told them. She couldn't turn off the telepathy around bad thoughts, such as murder. The thoughts are immediately projected into her brain, where she was shown images of her dead mother and brother, and one of herself.

Without thinking, she held out her hands attempting to push him against the wall and hold him there until Marcus could call the police, but she pushed too hard and he went flying through the bricks.

Marcus said he forgave her, for they both never really liked their father and weren't too upset over their loss. He said he forgave her and still liked her, but Gabby knew he always felt uneasy around her now, like being around a dog that bit you once. Not scared, but wary. And her mother never forgave her. Not like Gabby really gave a damn, but it still hurt to be given the cold shoulder from your mother, especially after you just saved her from being murdered.

The family was moved up to D.C. in their own apartment, paid for by the government, and Gabby lived with SHIELD. She attended school for 3 hours every day, taught by her own tutour, and after school she self-taught her powers. They would work on different things every day, ran all kinds of tests on her. She was able to see her family every other weekend and live with them in the apartment, but she knew she was always being watched. It's been this way for the past 3 years, now being 14, almost 15 years of age.

By the time she was done explaining everything to them and answered all their questions, they had finished their food and the waiter took the food away, leaving the bill on the table. Stark paid and left a $50 bill on the table for tip as he asked Gabby if her telepathy was electrical based and her telekinesis magnetically based.

"I know that they tested for that, too, but it's neither, really."

Stark shook his head and gave a small laugh, not believing it. As a scientist, Gabby knew Stark wanted to run his own tests and see them for himself, but she knew he would never ask that of her and let it go.

As they were leaving the restaurant to get back in Stark's car, Stark turned around to say something to Banner before walking into the back of a big man.

The man turned around, furious. "Hey, check where you're walking!" the man yelled, then his face turned smug as he saw who it was. "Well if it isn't Tony freaking Stark, the billionaire."

"Not giving any autographs today," Tony said, smiling. He pat the man on the back before the man grabbed his hand in a tight grip, moving very fast for a man of his size.

His face grew angrier as he yelled about not liking it when pretty rich boys touched him. Other men and a few women began walking towards them with angry faces, but directed at Tony and his crew, not the obnoxious man. There must have been at least 10 in total.

Rogers moved in front of Gabby but gave Banner a sideways look, checking his friend's emotional status. Stark began sassing the man with a death grip on his wrist, still not backing down even though everyone looked ready to fight.

Walking around and in front of Rogers, Gabby took a deep breath and held out her hand, palm out, to the rude newcomer. "Let him go," she commanded.

Immediately, the man released his grip on Stark's wrist and glared at her. He was about to say something before Gabby raised her other hand and held them both out, one concentrated on the man and the other on the approaching group. "You will let us leave," she said.

The approaching crowd stopped, hesitated for a second, and began backpedaling away. The rude man stepped out of Tony's way, allowing them to pass to get to his car.

Stark wheeled on Gabby, smiling. "Kid-" he began.

"Just get in the car please," Gabby insisted.

They piled into Stark's vehicle in the same spots as before, Gabby keeping her eyes on the people she just compelled as Rogers remained tense, doing the same. Stark was laughing the whole thing off, probably due to nerves or he genuinely found the situation hilarious. Banner's body seemed to let out a sigh of relief as he seemed to calm himself down.

"Kid, that was amazing!" Tony yelled as they sped off. Literally, sped- Tony drove fast. "But, a suggestion? Next time, tell him to eat sh-"

"Tony!" Steve yelled, cutting him off. Gabby found that cute- she just told him the type of father she grew up with and yet he wanted to limit the swearing around her.

The rest of the car ride back was spent with Stark boasting about how cool that was and the immediate reaction the crowd emitted to her commands. Stark began asking for Banner's input on how he thought her powers worked, blowing Gabby's- and probably Rogers'- mind on the scientific words he spit out in answer.

When they arrived back at the compound, Rogers asked to walk Gabby back to her room, which she accepted. Stark and Banner continued their banter on possible explanations for such a phenomenon, but managed to stop long enough to give her a goodbye.

Side by side, Rogers walked Gabby pasted multiple guards and barriers to her room on the far side of the large government base. When they came to the door, Gabby muttered a thank you before turning the knob and entering.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did back there," he began. "I mean I could have took them on, but that way no one got hurt and we didn't have to resort to violence. You know, everyone on the team, with all our skills and gizmos and gadgets- not one of us has the ability to sole a dispute in a nonviolent way." He smiled at her. "So, thank you. I think you'll fit well on the team. I didn't realize until now we really needed someone like you."

"Thank you," Gabby replied, a little smitten. It's hard to not like this guy, and she could see why that scientist chose him for the serum.

Rogers offered his goodnight, which Gabby returned, and close the door behind her as he left.

Gabby stood in the middle of the room for a while, releasing a big sigh and going over today's events in her head. It was all a big rush, meeting the big heroes that saved the world, eating an early dinner with them, and revealing her life story to them. She felt a weight lifted off her chest but a new weight on her shoulders that came with the realization that she'll have to go back out on the field, work with soldiers and, probably, become one. She'll work amongst the people who fought an actual god and won, and she'll be expected to pull her weight among them.

Could she do it? She's just some dumb kid who can pick up her drink from the other side of the room. Could she be a hero like Captain America? An intellectual like Stark and Banner? A fighter like, what were their names, Barton and Romanoff? An avatar like Thor? Could someone who murdered her own father, who's a disappointment to her own family, be a saviour of mankind?

Gabby walked over to her closet and slid the door open, staring at the suit she wore only yesterday. It was all black with a tight, long sleeve shirt, tight pants, long boots, fingerless gloves, and a heavy vest. And, of course, the goggles, which were tinted red.

Rogers said she was the new element to the team, something they needed. Which made sense- her powers could be used to resolve issues without throwing fists around or pointing guns to heads, and the Avengers didn't just want to be an all-violent team. They wanted to stand for something good.

But they also wanted to be a force to be reckoned with. They wanted to tell any terrorist organization, any invading alien force that they were ready to fight, and fight hard they shall. What better way to send that message than to fling a car in their direction?

Gabby ran her hand over the fabric of the suit, which was designed to sustain high friction and not fracture. She could be both peaceful and mean. She could very well be the one thing the Avengers were lacking, now that she thought about it, which they didn't know they were.

She could be an Avenger.

She _is_ an Avenger.

Gabby smiled to herself. Wait 'til she told Marcus!


End file.
